US Offers $5m Bounty For DR Congo Militia Leader

    The US has announced a reward of up to $5m (£4.1m) for information on Seka Musa Baluku, the leader of the Islamic State group-linked ADF militia in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    The wanted ADF leader is a Ugandan national who is likely in his late 40s, according to the US State Department.

    “Under Seka Musa Baluku’s leadership, the group targets, kills, maims, rapes, and commits other sexual violence and engages in abduction of civilians, including children,” the department’s Rewards for Justice programme said in a statement.

    It said the “group also recruits and uses children during attacks and for forced labour” in the Beni territory of eastern DR Congo.

    The group is accused of killing thousands of Congolese civilians and carrying out bomb attacks in Uganda. In 2020 alone, the group is said to have killed over 849 civilians, according to the UN Security Council.